The Internet Has Thoughts About Premier Guitar's Boss XS-1 Poly Shifter Review.
Premier Guitar scored the pitch shifter 4.2 and the only complaint was missing a treadle. Owners found a different one the review never ran into.
Source
“Any effect can color a guitar's personality and language. But Boss' new XS-1 Poly Shifter literally stretches the instrument's vocal range.”
What the internet actually said
“In person, with my own guitar, it's even more impressive.”
Long & McQuade · t.a.6.
“There is a noticeable clarity to the XS-1, that the Digitech Drop just does not have.”
VGuitar Forums · l.
“And why can't the dry guitar tone be eliminated from the output sound?”
VGuitar Forums · m.
The Suede Read
Premier Guitar reviewed the Boss XS-1 Poly Shifter and scored it 4.2, calling it a pedal that literally stretches the instrument's vocal range. The pros list covered smooth tracking on bends and glissandos, rich octave-down sounds, and convincing bass, 12-string, baritone, and capo voices. The entire cons section was one line: it lacks a treadle and MIDI capability that bigger pitch shifters provide. At $199, that reads as a rave with an asterisk about missing features nobody at that price point expects anyway.
The internet mostly backs up the tracking claim. On Long & McQuade, a five-star buyer had already watched demo videos and called the pedal even more impressive in person with his own guitar. On a synth and guitar forum, one owner who switched over from a Digitech Drop said there is a noticeable clarity to the XS-1 that the Drop never had. That is a direct product comparison from someone who owned both, and it lines up with what the magazine measured.
But a different owner on that same thread ran into something the review's cons line never touched: the dry guitar signal bleeding into the raised-pitch output, plus an interface he called difficult to program. Premier Guitar's only complaint was a missing treadle. A real owner's complaint was that the pedal does something the tracking numbers do not capture.
The tone quality holds up. The full picture of living with it is a little messier than the review let on.
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